It Should've Happened a Long Time Ago is an album by Paul Motian

Paul Motian

Stephen Paul Motian was an American jazz drummer, percussionist and composer of Armenian extraction.He first came to prominence in the late 1950s in the piano trio of Bill Evans, and later led several groups...

 on the ECM label. It was released in 1985 and features performances by Motian with Bill Frisell

Bill Frisell

William Richard "Bill" Frisell is an American guitarist and composer.One of the leading guitarists in jazz since the late 1980s, Frisell's eclectic music touches on progressive folk, classical music, country music, noise and more...

 and Joe Lovano

Joe Lovano

Joseph Salvatore "Joe" Lovano is a post bop jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer. Since the late 1980s, Lovano has been one of the world's premiere tenor saxophone players, earning a Grammy award and several nods on Down Beat magazine's critics' and readers' polls...

 and is the first album to feature the trio following three albums where they formed the basis of a quintet; Jack of Clubs

Jack of Clubs (album)

Jack of Clubs is the second album by Paul Motian to be released on the Italian Soul Note label. It was released in 1985 and features performances by Motian with Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano, along with Ed Schuller and Jim Pepper.- Reception :...

(1985), The Story of Maryam

The Story of Maryam

The Story of Maryam is the first album by Paul Motian to be released on the Italian Soul Note label. It was released in 1984 and features performances by Motian with Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano, along with Ed Schuller and Jim Pepper.-Reception:...

(1983), and Psalm

Psalm (Paul Motian album)

Psalm is the fifth album by Paul Motian to be released on the ECM label. It was released in 1982 and features the first recordings by Motian with Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano, along with Ed Schuller and Billy Drewes.-Reception:...

(1981).

Reception

The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4½ stars stating "This is one of the finest recordings that came from ECM in the '80s. Paul Bley led another, which featured Motian and Frisell -- as well as John Surman. This set is made of the kind of music that made Manfred Eicher's ECM such a force to be reckoned with. It placed three musicians in a context that was comfortable enough to make them want to sing to one another.".

Track listing

1. "It Should've Happened a Long Time Ago" - 6:06
2. "Fiasco" - 7:49
3. "Conception Vessel" - 4:31
4. "Introduction" - 3:05
5. "India" - 7:26
6. "In the Year of the Dragon" - 5:56
7. "Two Women from Padua" - 5:13

All compositions by Paul Motian

• Recorded July 1984 at Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg